Thoughts on a football Saturday

Posted on: September 13, 2009 4:31 pm

Charlie Weis doesn’t get off easy on this one. It was his coaching decision that left Michigan just enough time left on the clock to beat the Irish on Saturday.

Prior to Michigan’s game-winning drive, Weis elected to pass on second and third down. Both passes fell incomplete, stopping the clock and allowing Michigan to take over with 2:19 remaining and two timeouts left. Just enough, it turned, down for Rich Rod to nail down the dramatic win he needed.

When Weis as asked about the play calling he said something about going for the win. Maybe, but would Bill Belichick have signed off on those passes in that situation if Weis was still his offensive coordinator?

• Horseshoes and hand grenades would like to welcome Ohio State to its exclusive club. It’s getting to the point now that just playing close is a sign of progress for the Buckeyes.

Prior to Saturday, USC had won its last nine against Big Ten teams by an average of 23.8 points.

• Clip and save: Special teams might just up and grab USC down the line. Kicker Jordan Congdon missed a makeable 44-yard field goal against Ohio State [hitting the crossbar]. Punter Billy O’Malley let a high but catchable snap slips through his hands for a safety. O’Malley, a walk-on from Cleveland, averaged 37.6 yards on five punts. A 24-yarder last week against San Jose State allowed the Spartans to score their only points.• It sure would have helped the hype if Tennessee beat UCLA. [Wait for it …] No, it wouldn’t. Gainesville is getting fired up for the Lane Violation on Saturday.

• Indiana, perhaps the Big Ten’s worst program, is 2-0 for the sixth consecutive year.• OBC alert: Steve Spurrier must be pulling his hair out. A week after holding North Carolina State to three points, his defense allowed 41 to Georgia. Two suddenly potent teams combined for 735 yards and 78 points in Georgia’s 41-37 victory. That’s the second biggest total in the series’ history.

South Carolina ran 30 more plays than Georgia and outgained the Dawgs 427-308. The Gamecocks had the ball fourth-and-four at Georgia’s seven but Stephen Garcia couldn’t convert.

• Texas Tech going to Texas this week suddenly looks interesting. Tech’s Taylor Potts threw for seven touchdowns against Rice. Graham Harrell’s successor completed passes to 13 different receivers.• The best thing about BYU’s day was not its 54-3 victory over Tulane. It’s that Florida State rallied late to beat I-AA Jacksonville State 19-9. An FSU loss would have dealt an early blow to BYU’s BCS hopes. You know, strength of schedule and all that.

Thoughts on a football Saturday

Dodd, I am starting to feel the same way about your articles...way to be very vanilla.

Since: Aug 30, 2006

Posted on: September 14, 2009 12:49 am

Thoughts on a football Saturday

Hey bro I'm not saying this to take anything away from Michigan's performance. I truly believe ND is the better team but they had their opportunities. It's just a shame a great game had to be decided somewhat by the refs costing ND 4 points that they shouldn't have lost due to a bogus reversal. I think both teams proved to the country that they should be taken seriously and that they are way better than anyone including each of our own fanbases would be willing to give each other credit for.

Since: Dec 18, 2008

Posted on: September 14, 2009 12:27 am

Thoughts on a football Saturday

This is common in football. Weis wasn't the problem....you win some-you lose some. These are evenly matched teams so we expected a great game. When Notre Dame plays MSU next week that will be a great game too because it almost always is. This is why the kids play the games....don't blame the coach Dodd. Also, RR had a lot to coach for for U of M also, so I'm sure he had his team roaring to come into South Bend.

Jeremy

Houston

Since: Jan 13, 2009

Posted on: September 14, 2009 12:05 am

Thoughts on a football Saturday

You are correct and wrong in the same post. The part about Bellick is 100% correct. So is the part about Michigan loading the box and with thier star running back out at the time, throwing was the correct call. There was no PI. That's where your wrong. Second down was way off and on Third he just wasn't on the same page as his reciever. Plus, you can't blame the lose on that alone. It was more thanks to Michigan's brilliant offense on that last drive and Forcier's ability to just flat out make plays that won the game. He looks like a young better version of Colt McCoy (extremely accurate and can run fairly well).

Thanks,

Dalton Broback Redmond, WA

Since: Aug 30, 2006

Posted on: September 13, 2009 11:23 pm

Thoughts on a football Saturday

Dodd,

You posted:

"When Weis as asked about the play calling he said something about going for the win. Maybe, but would Bill Belichick have signed off on those passes in that situation if Weis was still his offensive coordinator?"

Actually Belichick did sign off on a similar play for the Patriots against I believe the Steelers to milk the clock at the end of a game. I am trying to locate the specifcs so I can link a story for you but you are incorrect in jumping on Weis for that call and saying that Belichick wouldn't have allowed that. Armando Allen was injured and out of the game on that drive and Michigan loaded the box on those plays. If the PI is called like it should be as evidenced in the pic(35) in this link: . If that is called as it should be it's a brilliant call on Weis' part and they run out the clock and win the game. He went for the jugular and the win and it was a play that had worked all day.

Thanks,

Zach Paschal (since you are complaining about nameless posters)Indianapolis, IN

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